A Day in the Life of a College Student

When Spring Break started last week, I was afforded the opportunity to see my older brother in college for a few days. I visited Linfield College, a small school of about 1,500 undergraduates, in McMinnville, Oregon. When my older brother and I first arrived on the campus, most of the students were still on their break, so it was really quiet in the dorm hall.

On the first day, my older brother and I spent all day with two of my brother’s college friends who got to Linfield the day before. We had Thai food for lunch, drove to the Oregon coast, walked on the beach, went to DQ, and later returned to McMinnville for some excellent Mexican food.

The next day, my brother and I went to the campus cafeteria for lunch, which is across the street from my brother’s dorm. I was told that the food that was served there was hit-or-miss. Later, my older brother took me around the campus, showing me all of his classes and all of the other buildings. As more of my brother’s friends started to arrive in the dorm, we had more fun. One of the things I learned about college is that you get to meet a lot of nice people from different places and backgrounds.

Another habit of college students is that many people have bizarre sleep schedules and eating habits. On the second night, after having dinner at 6:00 pm, my brother, some of his friends and I went out at 11:00 pm for take-out Taco Bell. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t go to sleep until after 1:00 am. Some students sleep until 11:00 if they did not have an early class. My older brother said that he doesn’t wake up until noon on some days.

As for dorm life, people have to live with a roommate, who can either be a college student’s best friend or their worst nightmare. Luckily, no one in my older brother’s hall had any terrible roommates. People at Linfield were pretty open about letting people into their rooms, whether they were studying, or just relaxing. Each floor also had its own communal bathroom, and individual shower stalls. Because I was just a guest for a few days, I didn’t have anywhere else to sleep except the floor. One night was so bad, I don’t even remember getting any sleep.

On Tuesday, my last day of the trip, I was able to sit-in on my older brother’s nutrition class. College classes are a lot different from a high school class. Compared to a normal high school class, in a normal college class there’s a greater emphasis on lectures, note-taking, using computers during and after classes, and an incredible amount of homework.

When I left Linfield College, I was able to take a lot of lessons with me to help prepare me, and get me excited for when I eventually go off to college as well. Overall, my visit was a fun and rewarding experience.